What do you think about the pre-event event?

This article is from the WeChat public account: Wang Zhiyuan (ID: Z201440), author: Wang Zhiyuan, and the header picture comes from: Visual China

In the past two days, the 2023 Wind Horse Ox year-end show has become popular. Why?

This event will invite some doers in the circle to discuss the current social, economic and cultural trends, refresh everyone, and talk about what to do in the coming year.

The roundtable session was very passionate.

The controversy is that Cheng Qian frequently interrupted Mr. Zhou's speech and said that the other party used a macro expression similar to his own, which led to mutual hatred between the two sides.

The clash immediately sparked public opinion.

Some say that Cheng Qian is too self-conscious, while others appreciate that young people have personal opinions.

Over the years, I have also hosted many roundtable events and talked to many executives, and I have found that the demands of the event organizers have changed.

Now, there will be two moderators for the conference and the roundtable. The opening should be a professional player, and the round table is KOL, Internet celebrity, and knowledgeable experts, so that they can chat together and increase the concentration of discussion.

However, have you ever thought that merger players are not professional in one aspect and will face the problem of both and again? For example, it is difficult to think about how to host well, stimulate the discussion of the guests, and string together the process.

Don't worry, let's start with what a roundtable forum is.

One

Open the search engine and type in the words "Roundtable Forum". In the information column, you may see:

XX Forum, through the cycle, re-understanding brand consumption and marketing, the 6th China Microecology XX Forum was a complete success, or: roundtable forum, in-depth dialogue between content entrepreneurs and XX.

Are these roundtable forums really like boiling tea around the stove to make thick soup?

Unconsistent.

The host gives each guest three minutes to introduce their business, and then asks a few questions about each guest, everyone finishes talking about their opinions, and the chat is over.

Have you ever been to a forum like this? Actually, the real forum is more exciting than the above.

The round table format originated from the legend of King Arthur in England. King Arthur is said to have been the leader of the Britons in the 5th century, and he had superhuman abilities to lead the Britons against the Saxon invasion.

Legend has it that when King Arthur convened a meeting of his knights, he would sit around a round table to ensure that each knight was equal and that there was no fixed head, hence the term "round-table conference".

The "round table" symbolizes the removal of hierarchical differences between people and emphasizes equality among participants. Later, it became a form of international, diplomatic conference. The presidency and the delegates of all countries should be seated in a way that better reflects the principle of equality.

Therefore, from a professional point of view, the roundtable discussion pays attention to fairness.

What is fairness? In the context of discussion, it is reasonable to deal with things and not to favor one side or one person. However, the broad spirit of Chinese culture has undergone some changes to this day. In society, everyone is accustomed to arranging according to the principle of seniors and ranks.

There's nothing wrong with that.

In the past, 10 minutes before the opening of the roundtable forum, I also had a moment of nodding my head and asking the organizers, has a certain leader come? Sometimes, I have to merge the time of the big guy and go to the rehearsal half a day in advance. There's no way, take the money to do things.

From a social perspective, no one is to blame for the changes in the format of the roundtable forum due to social development.

So, is there any difference between the roundtable moderator and the conference moderator?

There's a lot of learning in between. For events held by large enterprises such as DingTalk, Alibaba Cloud, and Feishu, the host will get the opening speech, guest speaking time and content in advance. You just need to string words with this book, hold the hand card, and express the content perfectly.

Round tables are different. Professional executive team, the event party will give the host basic information. For example, what are the names of several bigwigs in this field and the company's main business. If you are more cautious, you will be given an opening string and the topic of this discussion, and if you are more cautious, you will be told the direction of the big guy after setting the topic.

Two

Nothing is a problem, is it? But, you know what? There are two types of round tables.

The first type: mediocre type.

The main goal of the meeting is to reach a consensus among the three parties (the moderator, the event execution team, and Party A), follow conservative principles, and attach importance to the smooth process without accidents. Everyone is happy, hello, I am good, he is good, next time we will cooperate.

Most of the market falls into this category.

However, many organizers are often faced with a dilemma: they spend a lot of time and energy planning a conference, from inviting guests to arranging a live broadcast, only to find that the conference does not attract enough attention and expectations.

At this time, we should think about how to break through the routine and create more in-depth and more interesting meeting content.

Let's take a look at the second type: the heated discussion type.

The characteristics of this kind of round table are that the views collide fiercely and tolerate each other, which not only talks about the core theme, but also allows the audience to eat melons and learn things like watching refreshing articles and literary films.

Too many conference organizers want to do the second option, but in the end they can't. Why?

On the one hand, if a conference organizer and guests are not particularly close, they will definitely not want to make influential guests ugly in front of the public, after all, no one wants to cosplay the "bad guy" role in front of everyone.

People are more inclined to protect their influence and position, which limits the depth and sincerity of the discussion.

On the other hand, if I am the organizer and play an important role in the roundtable, and I am still a familiar friend on the same stage, then it is easy to limit the content of the discussion to the information cocoon. Nothing to see.

Imagine:

A start-up boss holds a roundtable meeting with other bosses of the same level. What do these people talk about when they get together?

Industry trends, business strategies. There is no talk at all about how young people should lie flat and fish at work, after all, the content is not in line with the image of the leader, and it is not relevant to the interests of the company.

In this case, do you think that the information and perspective of the discussion can escape the existing consensus and bring new insights to the audience?

So, even if you try to create a round table full of heated discussions, in the end, it's hard to get out of the box. So, what do you do if you want to break the dilemma? "Intentional design conflict".

What is Conflict?

Over the past few decades, we have been able to develop computers that are powerful enough to process tens of seconds and perform decades of computation, but we have not been able to completely avoid and fix cybersecurity vulnerabilities caused by computers.

That's the conflict. In reality, the thoughts of men and women, young and old, are the most obvious conflicts.

For example, when I was a child, when winter came, my parents always reminded me to wear autumn pants. Even when I was shivering from the cold, I would insist that it wasn't cold, because I didn't look fashionable in my pants, I was bloated, and it was inconvenient to walk.

The conflict design is most directly reflected in the "ideological differences", and the roundtable forum is also a spark that will collide with people of different roles and different classes, such as men and women, young and old, capital, founders, and migrant workers.

Think about it or not?

At the scene of the year-end show, there is a host Xiao Shi, why do you still want to find Cheng Qian? Is Cheng Qian handsome? Or is it because he interviewed Feng Lun in a short video?

Whether this arrangement is a coincidence or an intentional design, I don't know. But it's interesting.

Three

And then there's the key question: is it the speaker or the MC? I think it depends on the domain. This concept was proposed by the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu.

What does that mean? There are two levels:

First, you must understand the rules. Every field, every person, every organization has its own power structure, rules. You have to follow the rules when you go to someone else's territory.

When you are invited into a group of bosses, you will observe for a few days after introducing yourself to understand what everyone is talking about, which is not only a rule, but also a kind of wisdom.

Second, who asks you to do something? What should you do?

When invited by someone with a position or prestige to complete a certain task, it is more complicated than a simple host job. If you simply want to finish the process, the host Xiao Shi can do it, even if you don't, can't Feng Lun himself?

Obviously, the role of Cheng Qian's representative is to explore the in-depth views of the two bigwigs on a certain topic, and to arouse each other's desire to express themselves.

In addition, the field of the interview is different from that of the round table. There are three dimensions of relationship in the interview: equal communication, bottom-to-top information-seeking, or top-to-bottom inquiry.

These dimensions reflect that the guests have different demands when they are interviewed, some for money, some for fame, and these ultimate goals will affect the atmosphere of the interview and the feelings of the interviewee and the audience.

The roundtable is not an interview.

The relationship in the roundtable is more fluid, from the perspective of the host, how to highlight the professionalism, from the perspective of the KOL, how to be more decent, from the perspective of the invitee, who you represent, what he wants to achieve, all have to be discussed in advance.

I think the most difficult thing is the open round table, the live broadcast of the event is generally public, which tests the reaction of the on-site person and the host very much, and some bigwigs are shocking at every turn, and they must be familiar with each other's temper in advance.

When I presided over the round table, I often received a message from the organizer and a certain bigwig half an hour before the start: Zhiyuan, in my session, you want to ask me this question, where to cut the angle. You see, the purpose of an event cannot be viewed in a single dimension.

This pre-trip mistake is obviously not understanding the relationship between him and the guest.

mistakenly took the previous short video interview, a bit of a top-to-bottom interview posture, to the public round table, but the big guy felt: How presumptuous you are, so I didn't pay for his questions, so I started to scold him.

The short video interview is well-designed, scripted, and can be edited after filming, but Cheng Qian didn't realize that the relationship between him and the guests had changed, and at the round table, although some questions were prepared, he didn't predict how the guests would answer, so it was naturally easy to get out of control.

So, it's not surprising that something went wrong.

On the other hand, one of the common mistakes that speakers make after a presentation is to fall into the Dunning-Kruger Effect. They often feel good and think they are doing well.

In fact, people don't pay attention to your content at all, but the speaker's small movements, the way they speak. It's easier to be overconfident if you want to seamlessly switch roles between speaking and hosting.

This kind of excesse, like drinking, makes people lose their judgment of the real situation.

It is worth mentioning that the personality factor is also worth considering. Cheng Qian is an entrepreneur who does traffic business, relying on several short videos of emotional value and outstanding expression skills to get out of the circle, Zhou Hongyi, as a senior entrepreneur, how fierce the 3Q war was back then.

has experienced countless business wars and enjoyed the benefits of traffic, and in this case, young people are definitely not as sophisticated as the older generation. Once you realize that conflict can bring incremental business to your business, you must make the most of the opportunity like a wolf sees its prey.

So, whether it's MC or speaker. Seamlessly connect the work of the master of the water, which is not easy to do. Changing people doesn't necessarily do a good job. Even if it is done well, it may not be able to turn a round table into an event.

Except for Cheng Qian's frequent interruptions with several bigwigs and the impoliteness at the end, I don't think there are any unforgivable mistakes. Just like at work, what's wrong with the boss, freedom of expression is a person's right, and when you dare to say it, you prove that you are young and not worthy of being ridiculed.

Four

Having said that, I believe that one day, you will also become an expert in the vertical field, and you may also face the role of moderating the roundtable, talking to executives and founders. So, how do you make sure you look professional at the venue and don't overturn?

1. Play your part

Don't look at my usual sloppy appearance, when hosting an event, I will prepare the day before, including skin care, fitness, ironing clothes, and even confirming with the organizer that the guests are dressed to avoid stealing the limelight.

In terms of content, I will communicate with the roundtable guests to confirm the topic of discussion, the length of the discussion, and any questions that may arise, and make sure that all the details are in order.

As a KOL or expert, the organizer will have the illusion that you are a professional, and there is a high probability that they will not give you a hand card, and if necessary, prepare some basic information by yourself.

Like what:

Write an opening sentence for the roundtable, memorize some universal crossphrases related to the question, or write down the names and titles of the guests, and even note which sponsors are available for the event.

It's not about being pretentious, it's about being responsible for your role, your profession, and the trust that others place in you. The layman looks at the image, and the insider looks at the professional. Remember, what others think of you depends on how you present yourself.

2. Affirm, retell, and want to ask

When presiding over a round table, it is easy to start and difficult to discuss in the middle, and a common problem is that there are many subdivisions, and when everyone has a heated discussion, the next guest is easy to go off topic after the previous guest answers.

At this time, each guest ends, and he has to carry the role of "affirmation". What are you sure of? What the other person said, what he said. It's best to memorize a few sentences smoothly, and then repeat them, and by the way, throw bricks and ask the next guest what they think.

As a KOL host, there must be no professional host's professional mentality, so don't throw stalks and pick up stalks at will.

If you really want to pick up the conversation, the best thing to do is to say how you feel.

Like what:

Mr. Zhang suddenly asked you what the host thinks, you can briefly be a speaker and say, I think Mr. Zhang is right, I was thinking, will my profession be replaced by AI. But I haven't found the answer yet, so I want to ask Mr. Li to talk about it.

In this way, coherence is ensured and the topic is effectively guided. Another point is that you can't do this for every guest, so you can use "good" to make a short conclusion to the previous sentence during the transition.

Then by the way, cue the sponsor and remind that today's event is an exclusive sponsorship.

3. Don't use the interviewee as a prop

The last time I participated in a consumer circle event, I really couldn't stand it, that KOL played the round table host, and said vigorously, it seems that the guests are all clowns jumping off the beam.

What are the guests? In my opinion, "Lord" is wisdom, "Holding" is skill, and "Man" is caring. "Lord" represents the empty cup mentality, should be like entertaining guests in their own home, to others, they are the person who pours tea, the skill of holding is to talk less and listen more, and refine the core.

As for human care, Lao Tzu says:

Know the male, guard the female. People must have the spirit of guarding the weak, not everyone can be the protagonist, and not everyone can be a good supporting role; people with real experience know that life is a last resort to be the protagonist. Who is not getting stronger and stronger in the midst of repeated difficulties?

By the way, don't give yourself an "illusory sense of power". Real-life characters shouldn't be the light on stage. I am continuing to learn these three points and share them with you. Perhaps, shrinking the EGO is smart.

In summary

The purpose of the roundtable is to stimulate discussion.

The discussion method is to dig out deep and valuable things, to be a round table host, it is not so simple, learn to speak at the age of two, learn to shut up all your life, find the right position, and good fortune will follow.

Mr. Ke Zhou, the founder of Noteman, said a sentence that I very much agree with that slowness (arrogance and self-centeredness) is the disease of most intellectuals, and it is also the characteristic of many entrepreneurs.

This pain is a good thing for the future, expose it early, sober up early, and bless silently. I hope that everyone is on the path of cultivation and getting better and better.

This article is from the WeChat public account: Wang Zhiyuan (ID: Z201440), author: Wang Zhiyuan

This content is the author's independent view and does not represent the position of Tiger Sniff. May not be reproduced without permission, please contact [email protected] for authorization

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